Xiaomi Redmi 8A Vs Redmi 7A: Every difference that you wanted to know

Xiaomi launched the Redmi 8A in India on Wednesday at a starting price of Rs 6,499. The Redmi 8A is a follow-up to the Redmi 7A, which was launched not long ago – barely two months ago to be precise. It was a good phone – it's still a good phone. But the Redmi 8A offers more, at least on paper. Which is why it becomes even more important to understand the differences – the upgrades that you’re getting – even more so because the Redmi 8A costs a little more than what the Redmi 7A cost at launch. 

Here’s a step by step breakdown of the Redmi 8A and Redmi 7A feature set to understand what’s in store:   

• The body of the Redmi 8A is made entirely out of plastic and there’s no fingerprint scanner here - like the Redmi 7A. The design is different though. The Redmi 8A comes with an aura design rehash, like the Redmi 7 and Redmi Y3. Unlike the Redmi 7 and Redmi Y3 however, the Redmi 8A has a textured back to enhance ergonomics – Xiaomi is calling the design of the Redmi 8A aura wave grip design. The Redmi 7A instead came with a rather plain-old plastic shell of a body with a smooth matte finish – a no frills attached budget phone if you may. 
• With the new design, also comes a choice of new colours – the Redmi 8A, to that effect, will be available in three options - Midnight Black, Sunset Red and Ocean Blue. The Redmi 7A came in blue, black and gold colours.
• Another key highlight of the Redmi 8A is its P2i hydrophobic coating – which is also found in the Redmi 7 and other new-age budget Redmi phones. This makes the Redmi 8A resistant to light splashes of water/rain. The Redmi 7A did not have a P2i hydrophobic coating.
• While the Redmi 7A came with thick bezels at the top and bottom, the Redmi 8A packs a more modern waterdrop-style notch design – Xiaomi calls it dot notch. That’s also the same design that Xiaomi uses in the Redmi 7 and Redmi Y3. The screen is now protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 – the Redmi 7A came without any sort of protection up-top.
• The Redmi 7A came with a 5.45-inch 720p+ LCD display with 18:9 aspect ratio – same as the Redmi 6A. The Redmi 8A comes with a bigger 6.22-inch 720p+ IPS LCD display with 19:9 aspect ratio.
• Just like the Redmi 7A, the Redmi 8A is also powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 processor. This is paired with up to 3GB RAM and up to 32GB storage which is expandable by up to 512GB via a dedicated micro-SD card slot – the Redmi 7A came with 2GB RAM and up to 32GB storage.
• The Redmi 8A packs a sizeable 5,000mAh battery inside and has a USB Type-C port for charging and data syncing – with support for 18W fast charging although Xiaomi isn't bundling a fast charger in the box. The Redmi 7A came with a smaller 4,000mAh battery with no fast charging – and a micro-USB port.
• The Redmi 8A comes with a 12MP rear camera with Sony’s IMX363 sensor and f/1.8 aperture. On the front, the Redmi 8A comes with an 8MP camera. The Redmi 7A also came with a 12MP rear camera but with Sony’s IMX486 image sensor. On the front, the Redmi 7A came with a 5MP camera.
• An important selling point of the Redmi 7A is that Xiaomi has been offering a 2-year warranty on the phone – which is a first for any Xiaomi smartphone in India. The Redmi 8A doesn’t come with a 2-year warranty.
• While the base variant with 2GB RAM and 32GB storage will sell for Rs 6,499, the top-end model with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage will cost Rs 6,999. The Redmi 7A was launched in India at a starting price of Rs 5,999 for the base variant with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, going all the way to Rs 6,199 for the top-end variant with 2GB RAM and 32GB storage.

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